Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are all banned in China. Eighty percent of Chinese consumers are using Baidu as the dominant search tool; Google gets 10 percent. Note that mid-2017, WeChat introduced news feed and search functions, reported by the Financial Times as a “direct challenge to Chinese search engine Baidu.”

What one billion monthly active users in China rely on is WeChat, an all-encompassing super app for instant messaging, photo sharing, shopping and travel research, booking and payments.

To check out a new PhocusWire Q&A on how travel brands and destinations are using WeChat to attract travelers, click here.

Our sister publication, Inbound Report, notes highlights from a newly released survey of Chinese travelers regarding three areas of activity measured in 2015 and 2016:

—a shift in the way Chinese travelers are planning their travel as, increasingly, more people are planning and booking travel on their own;

—a change in the composition of the travel party, with more families traveling together; and

—a decline in the importance of shopping as, overall, shopping fell to the third reason to travel in 2016, down from second in 2015, and shopping as a percentage of overall travel spend is likely to continue to drop.

“Chinese travelers continue to shift their spending towards more meaningful experiences such as exquisite dining, extraordinary cultural journeys and even adventure sports.”

“Prepare for Turbulence: The Chinese Traveler of Today and Tomorrow,” is a new (free) research report issued by Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm, found here.